this morin i started up my 4runner and it sounded and acted just like it did whenever one of my plug wires had burnt through. I got home today and took the roof rack off my 4runner and started it up and it just started running like crap. the idle was all off. it was smoking white smoke. water is coming out of the exhaust. my temperature seems like it is running just a tad hot but thats iffy cuz my gauge hardly works. i checked my plug wires to see if i had messed them up again and they all look fine. can yall help me with this. i dont know whats going on but i do know what this sounds like. someone please tell me this isnt the sign of the dreaded headgasket. can someone id wut this problem is. got any questions or things i should check. sorry for the bumblin just kinda bummed out.

 

Sounds to me like your head gasket just went. DON'T REV it. you'll only make it worse. How's the coolant? Is it the 3.0 engine? If so how many miles and has the factory recall on the headgasket already been done?

 

Ill check the fluid as soon as it cools off a bit. haha dont wanna have a busted up 4runner as well as myself. Yeah it is the 3.0. Has 140XXX miles and is not covered under the recall. Haha, is there a way to check and make sure it is the headgasket, like any definte signs or anything?

 

OK ill tell you isnt. (just dont be mad when im wrong too)
do a compession test, it sounds like its leaking through to the cylinder
also a pressure test on the cooling system
either one that shows unstable pressure is a good indication its the HG.

 

did your exhaust smell like coolant? if so not good!
i think its new head gasket time.. sorry

 

alrigth so i talked to my dad about it, he knows alot about cars. he said to check the oil and i did and it read that it had no oil when i know that i changed the oil the last time and i did it right and ive checked the oil periodically. so i added some oil and now it reads almost full but smokes like a freight train now and the oil that is on the dipstick has bubbles in it. so i guess its the headgasket right? do i go and get a compression test on it to make sure?

 

redneck,

title edited. please try to put in a key word in your titles. hope its not the head gasket!

bob

 

my bad bob..sorry bout that. so do you guys think it is the headgasket? if so ill take it up to my mechanic tomorrow, if not then im just gonna try and see what i can do myself. only good thing about this is that i get to drive this to shcool until i get my 4runner fixed!!!! man i love havin a redneck brother

 

for those of you that have been through this before. how much did it run you to have the headgasket replaced. i saw engbldrs kit for 130? i think. how much would labor run me. also thinkin about the master rebuild kit. anything i should know when approachin a mechanic about this. i dont want to get screwed but dont want crappy work done either. any advice would be good.

 

ok......so i started my 4runner up tonight and no smoke, perfect idle, no water in the exhuast. I took it for a ride to get some gas, ran just like the day i bought it. No misses, just a hair of smoke when i first start it up but looks and smells just like the exhuast that all cars make when they start up in cold weather. alright guys, short of a miracle. what has happened here? how do you go from running like crap to running almost perfect.